Casino revenue at Paradise Co Ltd, an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, rose 9.0 percent sequentially in October, compared to September, the firm said in a Tuesday filing to the Korea Exchange.
October casino revenue was KRW22.36 billion (US$19.7 million), versus just under KRW20.51 billion in September.
But judged year-on-year, this October’s tally was down 72.2 percent on the KRW80.56 billion achieved in October 2019. The decline coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic that has seen inbound travel to South Korea greatly curtailed.
Paradise Co’s gaming operations are at: Walkerhill in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan; and Paradise City (pictured), in Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul.
In September, Paradise City’s casino had been closed from September 1 due to several staff members testing positive for Covid-19. It reopened again on September 9.
This October’s table game revenue for the Paradise Co group was nearly KRW20.41 billion – or 91.3 percent – of the group’s monthly total casino revenue. The result was 9.1 percent up on September’s just-under KRW18.71 billion, though 73.4 percent down on October 2019’s KRW76.58 billion.
This October’s machine game revenue for Paradise Co was KRW1.95 billion, up 8.6 percent on September’s almost KRW1.80 billion. Judged year-on-year, October gaming machine revenue was down 50.9 percent on the close-to KRW3.98 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The October numbers take Paradise Co’s aggregate casino revenue for the first 10 months of the year to nearly KRW283.30 billion, a decrease of 56.3 percent year-on-year from the KRW647.72 billion achieved in the same period of 2019.
Table revenue for the calendar year to October 31 was KRW261.61 billion, a 57.1 percent decline on the KRW610.19 billion a year earlier.
Machine revenue for 2020 up to October-end was nearly KRW21.69 billion, down 42.4 percent on the almost KRW37.53 billion in the first 10 months of 2019.
Table drop – the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the company’s gaming tables – fell 7.7 percent month-on-month in October, and declined 77.4 percent year-on-year.
October 2020 table drop was nearly KRW125.54 billion, versus KRW135.98 billion in September. October 2019’s table drop had been almost KRW556.25 billion.
For the first 10 months of 2020, table drop was nearly KRW2.04 trillion, down 62.9 percent on the almost KRW5.49 trillion achieved in the initial 10 months of 2019.
